Make sure to watch the Free and Equal third party debate, which will be broadcasted from 9:00 to 10:30 PM EST today (November 5th). Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party nominee, and Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential nominee, will be facing off.

The debate will be broadcasted on Russia Today, and streamed on freeandequal.org and RT’s youtube channel. C-SPAN will also be re-airing the first Free and Equal debate tonight, which has raised the possibility they will be covering it.

I greatly enjoyed the Free and Equal debate, which featured Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party), Jill Stein (Green Party), Virgil Goode (Constitution Party), and Rocky Anderson (Justice Party). It was moderated by Larry King, whom I thought seemed slightly dispassionate, but set himself aside and let the candidates speak.

Topics not discussed in the presidential debates were happily discussed; the war on drugs, the deficit, and civil liberties (ie. Patriot Act, NDAA). Other topics included foreign policy (with all the candidates being against the war on terror), education reform, and marijuana legilization.

The candidates were all very clear about their particular views, which was very refreshing. They all looked happy to be there, and the mood was very friendly. All four agreed that the deficit was far too large, the war on terror needed to be cut, and bills like NDAA were dangerous for liberty.

Disagreements arose when Anderson and Stein stated they supported free secondary education, which Goode and Johnson opposed. Goode also stated he was against marijuana legilization, which all three other candidates were for.

I suggest to anyone that hasn’t seen it to watch it. It was such a positive, yet sadly unusual occurrence in our current political setup (link posted at the bottom).

The Free and Equal Elections Foundation will be hosting a second debate on the 30th, which will feature Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, decided by a vote held on the Free and Equal webpage. The candidates have very different economic approaches- Johnson being right and Stein left- which wasn’t deeply delved into during the first debate.

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party nominee, has launched his first TV advertisement. The advertisement reflects his non-interventionist foreign policy, with the focus of the ad being upon drone strikes and war with Iran.

A newly released ad by a Ron Paul ‘supporter’ is garnering much negative attention.

The video shows Jon Huntsman speaking Chinese, dressed up as Mao, and a host of other negative and illogical things.

The uploader of the video is ‘NHLiberty4Paul,’ but I truly do question whether or not they are actually a Paul supporter. The video was uploaded on January 4th and has 29 likes to 1,090 despite a flood of Paul supporters demanding it be taken down in the comment section. Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton has also come out and stated, “The video is disgusting. Whoever put it up should remove it immediately.” However, the video still remains up.

I have serious doubts this video is the work of a Ron Paul supporter. Why would they leave it up despite such a negative reaction? Why is the actual video so illogical and racially charged? Why is it this person has only uploaded this one video? Why ignore Paul’s camp when they asked for this video to be taken down? What exactly would the purpose of the video if it is actually the work of a Ron Paul supporter? The video was quickly linked to Huntsman’s webpage, and within a few hours had Huntsman’s daughters talking about it throughout the media.

I would find it very believable and likely this act is intended to smear Paul and shed a bad light on his supporters (whom are often mocked and labelled as ‘Paulbots’ on social media). This video also has a high probability of being the direct work of Jon Huntsman’s camp.

There remain questions concerning this video, and I will update if I come across anything.

Update: the video has been uploaded again. This time on the account ‘NH4Santorum.’ This, imo, makes it even more clear this isn’t the work of a Paul supporter. The link for the channel is ‘http://www.youtube.com/user/NH4Santorum‘.

The New Hampshire primary is fast approaching – its on the 10th – and Ron Paul is experiencing positive news; his campaign is surging in New Hampshire, at least according to a Washington Times/JZ Analytics Poll taken on Wednesday. While Romney sits quite comfortably ahead, polling at 38%, Paul holds 24% to Santorum’s 11 and Gingrich’s 9.

Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton had this to say:
“On the heels of his close third place finish at the Iowa Caucus, Ron Paul is polling a strong second place in New Hampshire. From here on out, it is a two-man race between Ron Paul and Mitt Romney given that one of the tickets out of Iowa was a dead-end due to Rick Santorum’s glaring lack of viability,”

Personally, I expect a Romney win, a Paul second, and Santorum third. I expect Santorum’s campaign will begin to really lose its steam – his issues will now be brought to light and he’ll experience harsh criticisms for the first time – but I’m not sure if this drop will happen before or after New Hampshire. Santorum’s numbers have risen in New Hampshire, but I expected them to be slightly higher after his performance in Iowa. In fact, when I looked at the Washington Time’s article I was quite suprised Santorum was sitting only at 11.

One thing is certain though; a two man race between Romney and Paul is likely in the makings, and I wonder what would result. The candidates are staring into the face of of a GOP electorate that is continuing to catapult candidate after candidate to top tier status and is wary of Romney.

I was hoping for atleast a second place finish, but had some hope for a first place performance. I didn’t pay attention for a few days and then ‘bam’ Santorum. With Mitt sitting comfortably as he has the entire primary process and Paul conducting his usual grassroots, as I was watching on CNN, suddenly Santorum was boasting huge numbers, and I realized what missing a few days can do.

Not to jab Santorum’s campaign – he had little money but traveled lots – but one cannot discount the hype unleashed by the media. For a long time it was a two man race between Paul and Romney, so it wasn’t surprising for a third to be ‘placed’ in.

Santorum boasts a record of voting for the debt ceiling numerous times and being a heavy supporter of earmarks. His foreign policy is quite harsh, with Iran in his sights, and he is VERY socially conservative. When guests on the show were being asked why they supported him, they started rambling about family values and not being able to say much else.

Why do I wish Paul had won? Paul is the most fiscal conservative of the group. He realizes that not only the state is in over 15 trillion of debt, but that this money is owed by the citizens of America. He is much more socially liberal than his other rivals also. He doesn’t believe in a constitutional ban on gay marriage and is against the war on drugs. Other topics that are more socially liberal are not government by Paul’s personal beliefs. He believes in strict adherence to the constitution and liberty, and has no desire to dictate and control the lives of Americans with big government. It is costly, and along with the war on drugs, foreign aid, foreign wars, the military budget, the American empire, the nation will only be brought deeper.

He has stood against the Patriot Act and the TSA, and recognized the dangers of the newly passed NDAA, singed by Obama after he claimed he would veto.

Hope isn’t lost yet though. I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if Santorum surges stops and he begins dropping and the other candidates stay low or begin slowly dropping out expect for Huntsman (has campaigned a lot in NH). Paul maintained 20% while experiencing a harsh period of hazing and questioning over racist newsletters. However, this event struck a huge blow as I and many supporters were hoping for atleast a second place finish. New Hampshire will be interesting, and I’m curious to see how Paul campaigns and what ads get released and whom their aimed at (Santorums first potential moment to be in the crosshairs).